Signaling device



J.' w. WEBB SIGNALING DEVICE 1922 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed April 6 ur ll IAug. 14, 1923. M6459@ J. W. WEBB SIGNALING DEVICE Filed April 6, ,1922 2Sheets-Sheet l www Patented Aug ld, i923.

tersa il; La u JOHN 7. WEBB, OF GHICGOQILLNOIS.

Application filed April 8,

To all whom t may concern.'

Be it known that l, .loi-1N W. WEBB, a citizen oit the` United States,residing at Chicago, inthe county of Cook and titate ot illinois, have.invented certain new and useful Improvement-s in Signaling Devices, ofwhich theollowing is aspecitication.

My invention relates'to illuminated signaling devices intendedmoreparticularly for use on motor cars and designed tovbe Aused for thepurpose ot giving timely warning, when traveling, of the intention ofthe driver to make a turn rand advise others of. lthe direction in whichthe turn will be made, thus elimmatingr one source oi trequent accidentsin the driving of motor cars. The object of'iny invention is generallythe production of anetfective signaling equipment which may beeasily andsimply operated to give a conspicuous warning of the coming movement ofthe car, and to this end l have devised'andinvented the novel signalingapparatus hereinafter described inA detail, my invention consisting inthe novel arrangement, construction and mode of operation of the partsand members et thefdevi'ce, the essential elements of my invention beingmore particularly pointed' out in the appended claims, itbeing'und'erstood, however, that various changes and modiiications ofstructure are possible within the scope and intendinent of such claims.Y 1 c Figure l of the accompanying drawings is a rear view of the cowland Windshield of an automobile, showing my invention applied thereto,the electrical system forming part of the means for energizing thesolenoid magnets employed as a part of the aparatus beingdiagran'imatically shown; Fig. 2 is a central vertical section of one ofthe devices with the core of the solenoid and electric light inuppermost position, whereby a white light is displayed; Fig. 8

.isa similar view, but with the magnet energized and the core andassociated parts Ydepressed to ail'ord a red-colored signal; Fig. 4f isa horizontal section on the dottedV line t-d of Fig.` 2; and Fig. 5 is ahorizontall section on the line 5-5 of Fig. 2, looking Y upward, asindicated by the arrow.

' The same reference characters indicate the saine parts in all thegures of the draw-V Vin s.

y novel signaling devices are designed to be employed in pairs, one ineach side ot t, v Y i l SIGNALING DEVICE.

1922. Serial N0. 550,095.

al car, attached to the side-members of the wind shield, or supported ina similar position upon the cowl of the machine., The warning signalsare given by means of electro-magnets actuated through electricconductors governed by switch members located on the steering wheel of'the ear, as iii the case or' my co-pending application Serial No.550,09/i, liled April 6, 1922 in which l have made claims tol thesubject-matter which is common to that application and the present one.

Referring to Figure l, the electric current required for energizingtheelectro-magnets and illuminating the incandescent lamps ot the devicesmay be taken from the storage battery usually employed in the powerplant of modern automobiles, the battery being representeddiagraininatically by the letter A, and the conductors employed for thepurposes mentioned include two branch solenoid circuits @and a/fcrthetwo devices, markedr B and C, respectively, and two branch lamp circuitsb and 6'; The solenoid circuits t and a' are respectively controlled byswitches o ando', which are conveniently located on the steering wheel Dof the car. Y

Referring to Figs. 2 and 3 for amore den tailed illustration of thesignaling devices proper (which are, or may be, identical inconstruction), each device is provided at the top with aI solenoidhousing l through which it may be conveniently secured to the supportingbracket 2. The base oit the housing is extended to torni a horizontaliiange 3, against the under side oin which is seated a clear glass cup 4exterioily flanged at the top to cooperate with a coupling ring 5secured to the flange 3, a gasket 6 being employed to provide atiglitcushioned joint. Y The solenoid 7 is secured within the h-ousing l bymeans oit retaining ring 8, and its core 9 carries a disk l() to which.is axially secured the incandescent electric lamp ll which constitutesthe source of illumination. Secured to the dislr l0 by means of aperipheral lclamping member 12 is an inner cup 13, also made oit clearglass. Between the cups fi and 13 is interposed a body ot transparentcolored liquid la, and the proportions of the cups and th-e volume ofthe liquid is such that when the inner cup is in normal elevatedposition the level ofthe liquid will be below the lamp ll and thc lampwill display a white light, while when the lamp is in lowermost positionthe level of the liquid will be raised so that the light shining throughit will be colored to give a warning signal. An opaque shield l5provided to intercept the rays travelling downwardly and prevent anytrace oi color from reflection or retraction of rays which otherwisewould pass through the vliquid in th-e bottoni of the cup. The buoyancyof the liquid (which. if necessary may -be assisted bya spring)`maintains the inner cup and associated partsin upper position eK- eeptwhen `the magnet is energized to draw the armature core downward, y'forthe purpose and with the result already explained.

By operation of one -or the other ofthe switches c and 0" the driver oi'the machine is enabled to give warning as he approaches a cross streetof his :intention to inalie ya turn, and dos-o by nieans which willindicate the direction in which he intends to proceed.

It will be understood that ithe lamps ll are yboth constantly lighted togive (except when a warning colored signal is displayed 'at -one device)an indication through the white uncolored lights off the Iposition and`movement of zthe vehicle.

l. An `illuminated signaling device corn- `prising a clear `glass outercup, a clear fglass inner cup, a body yorVcol-ored liquid between thelower portions of aid cups, means lor shitting one cup toward theoth-erat will to .force liquid between the sides of Vthe cups, and a lamparranged within said inner cup.

'2. An illuminated Asignalling device coinprising a clear glass outercup, a clear glass inner cup, a body of colored liquid Vbetween thelower Aportions of said cups, nicans for depressing said inner cup atYwill to force liquid between 'the side of the cups, and a lamp arrangedwithin said inner cup.

3. A n illuminated Vsignaling device according to claiin l in which saidouter and inner cups have cylindrical sides concen trically arranged. p

l'. An illuminated signaling device acycording to claim l in which saidlamp is carried by said inner cup.

5. An illuminated signaling device according to claiin l in which ashield is interposed between the lainp Vand `the bottom portions ot saidclips'. V

6. An illuminated signaling device according to claini l i-n which saidVinner cup' colored liquid between -tlhe lower por-tionsotV said outerand inner cnps,`an yelectric lamp carried by said inner cup, `andn'ieans 4for energizing said solenoid at will to shi-tt one oit saidcups towards the vother and torce liquid .between the sides of saidcups.

8. An illuminated signaling device according to claim 7 in which 'saidsolenoid housing extends laterally at its base =to form a `closure forsaid outer cup.

9. An illuminated 'signaling device according to claim 7 in 'which `saidAinner cup is secured to closure disk with which the sclenoid core andlamp are rigidly, connected. Y 1

l0. An illuminated"signaling vdevice according to claim 7 inA which saidsolenoid housing is secured in stationary position lto a supportingbracket.

JOHN W. VWlfBl.

